Dissonance
by Kirii
Summary: FFVIIX crossover After his fight in Sector Seven, Reno finds himself waking up in Tokyo, still injured. He meets Kamui and finds himself involved in the End of the World. Previously titled "Mystic Fire".
1. Prologue: How it began

_**Author's Note:** I posted this before, but I wanted to go back and do a little tweaking. So I'm reposting it. Anyways, this is a crossover with **Final Fantasy VII** and is in Reno's point of view. If you don't know anything about **FFVII**, don't worry; I'll be explaining things in due time. Just enjoy for now.__**  
Warning:** Crossover, slash, odd as hell pairing, and weird genetic experiments lie ahead. Read at your own risk.  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own them and I'm sure that by the time you read this sentence, CLAMP and Square-Enix will be plotting an alliance to a)sue the pants off me, b)send me back to the island of cannibalistic lesbians from which I came, c)maul me, or d)obliterate me._

**Prologue:** How it began

Never in my entire life had I ever expected anything like this. The most I ever expected in life was Death. I saw him when my parents died, I saw him as I grew up on the streets of the city just this side of Hell, and I saw him as I gunned down people as a Turk. This time, I saw him and knew that he had come for me. I had been badly injured during a fight with the members of AVALANCHE, damn those bastards. This time, I came face-to-face with Death and laughed in his face.

"You ain't takin' me without a fight," I told him with a cocky grin on my face despite the pain that racked my body. "You ugly old bastard."

The ominous laugh that emanated from him was probably enough to give even General Sephiroth a run for his gil. A shiver ran up my spine at the echoing chortle and I knew that I likely had no choice but to be accompanied by Death to the Promised Land. However, I was a Turk and Turks do not go down that easily. I was prepared to fight Death, give up my chance to see the Promised Land, just so that I could live, because I am one stubborn little bastard myself. If I could survive years on the streets of the most polluted city on Gaia, then I sure as hell could fight Death as I stood there, leaning against a wall for support.

Death approached me and I can still feel the incredible chill that radiated from him. The air, I remember, was thin and smelled so horribly that I nearly choked. His hand reached out to me, white, clammy, and cold, ready to take me by the throat and suck up the last shreds of life from my body. I remember I was weak from loss of blood and almost unable to move as I stared Death down.

Then something happened, and I'm not sure what it was, but the next thing I knew, my world was black and I couldn't open my eyes. I had thought to myself right then that I had failed to fight off Death; that I was dead and I was a mockery to the Turks if I had lost that quickly. The thing was, if I was dead, why could I still hear the sounds of the city around me? Why could I smell the pollution in the air? Why was my subconscious still running like a chocobo with its head sliced off?

I tried again to open my eyes and after a moment, whatever had glued them shut cleared away and the first thing I saw was a light. Odd, seeing as it was dark when I fought with AVALANCHE. The second thing I noticed was that I was definitely not in the same alleyway as I was when Death approached. This one was a lot smaller and the buildings surrounding it were different from the cold steel that made Midgar the gray spectacle it was. These building were stone, with barely six feet between them. The third thing I noticed was that I was still injured, still broken, bruised, and bleeding.

I pulled myself up with much difficulty and slowly made my way towards the exit of the alleyway. What I saw on the street surprised me; there were people. I mean a _lot_ of people. More people than I had ever seen before. Midgar, I knew, was not nearly this crowded. Sure, it was one of the main cities on the planet, but there just weren't this many people in Midgar. Trust me, I lived there. Curious, I stepped out of the alley, grimacing as pain shot through my body with every step.

This city was definitely _not_ Midgar. First glance told me that. Midgar was not this clean, not this organized, and not this bright. The lights that shone down from a number of poles that stood along the street reflected off various surfaces, almost blinding me. I reached up with a bloody hand and pulled down the tinted goggles I used to keep my bright red hair out of my face so that I could see. I saw too many people, too many cars, and too many buildings. And the people themselves were something to worry about. At first glance, to me, they all looked like they were from Wutai, the country that Shin-Ra, the company I worked for, had been at war with not that long ago. Should any of them realise that I was from Midgar, I was dead.

Then again, I had been to Wutai once before, as a bodyguard at a treaty agreement. This did not look anything like Mime, the city I had visited. The buildings there hadn't been anything like the ones that surrounded me at this moment. And the people did not wear Wutain garb. Looking at the people that walked past me as I stood in the alleyway, they all wore business suits, men and women alike. On the rare occasion I would see a couple people dressed casually, most of them teenagers. Even some of the teenagers wore businesslike garb.

This city was definitely not Mime and most definitely not Midgar.

I limped onto the street, gathering odd glances from the mass of people around me. Some looked worried, some scared and even more disgusted at the sight of me. I knew I probably looked horrible. Bruised, cut and covered in blood, dirt, and sweat, limping and occasionally reaching to a wall to help me stand, I made my way down the street, hoping to find someplace to tend my wounds. My breath was becoming labored and my vision was beginning to cloud up. I couldn't tell if my cloudy vision was my actual sight or my goggles fogging up, but I soon just closed my eyes and leaned against a wall. I couldn't move anymore.

Someone spoke to me, gingerly putting a hand on my shoulder. I couldn't even answer them, the pain was too great and I felt too weak. They spoke again to me, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. I could barely even register that it was a male voice. Another voice accompanied it and I swear that was because I was going insane from the pain that filled my body. The two voices kept talking and talking, trying to get me to understand.

Before long, I could hear a shrilling noise that kept getting louder and louder. I pried my eyes open and met a pair of worried violet eyes. The owner of those eyes tried once again to speak to me, but this time, in a broken dialect that I only barely understood.

"Are you okay?" the violet-eyed person (I couldn't tell if it was a man or woman) asked.

"Fuck no…" I choked out. "I…am so dead…when Tseng finds me."

It was about then that I think I passed out.

_**Author's Note:** I'm making it so that Reno can't understand what's being said unless it's in English. It'll be more fun that way. He'll eventually learn enough Japanese to get by, but where's the challenge in being able to speak the common language right away?_


	2. Chapter I

_**Author's Note:** This fic, since you can't really tell from the prologue, comes into the **X** universe in around the end of book eleven, where Keiichi is walking Kamui to the station. I'm having them get Reno to the hospital before the earthquake.__**  
Warnings:** Abuse of doctors and whatever else gets in Reno's way. This includes Sorata.**  
Disclaimer:** I received a phone call last night that I had won the rights to FFVII. Then I woke up screaming obscenities because it was just a dream._

**Chapter One:** Hospital Visit

I don't know how long I was out, but I guess whoever was trying to help me must have taken me to a hospital, because the first thing I saw when I woke up was pristine white walls. There was a needle in my left arm, I had been bandaged up, and my ribs had been set. I hadn't even realised they had been broken in the fight. I felt dizzy, drugged, and about ready to throw up my insides. I did not feel comfortable. I did not like hospitals at all. Hospitals meant doctors. Doctors, in Midgar, meant Hojo. Hojo meant experimentation and excessive testing on the Mako levels in the bloodstream. Doctors, not necessarily Hojo, but mainly him, all freaked me out. I have good reason for that, as you can tell from what I just told you.

I shot up in bed, letting out a cry of pain as I did so. Sitting up suddenly with broken ribs, definitely not a good idea. Very painful, not recommended. I wrapped my arms around my ribs, trying to ignore the pain. I crawled out of bed, grabbing the needle in my arm and pulling it out as I did so. I don't know what was in the IV, but I don't think it was anything that important. Whatever. I wanted the hell out of that room. It was too white, too clean. I don't like rooms like that. Like the doctors that occupied them, hospitals freak me out. I am used to dark alleyways, dimly lit rooms, and wide open spaces. Blinding white paint on uniform flat walls just weren't something that I liked.

It was then that I realized that a) I wasn't wearing my uniform, or any of my clothes for that matter, b) my EMR wasn't in my hand, and c) the gun I usually keep strapped to my side was missing. These three realizations made me even more nervous than the fact that I was in the hospital. Now, I knew that I was _weaponless_ in a hospital, with only my fists to defend myself. This was just not my day. I get in a fight with AVALANCHE, get my ass handed to me, meet up with Death and blackout only to find myself in a strange place, then in a hospital of all places. No, today was not going well at all.

A man walked into the room and stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw me. He was wearing a white coat, so I knew right away that he was a doctor. While I know I should be grateful, seeing as it was a doctor that fixed me up, like I said, I do not like or trust doctors. I took up a defensive position, readying myself to knock this guy out if he tried anything. Instead, he just stood there, stared for a few seconds, then shouted something out the door. I have no clue what he said, but apparently, it was enough to bring in a couple other doctors.

Let's remember one little equation, keeping in mind that I have never been any good at math, but this one is one that I'll always get right: Reno plus doctors equals all hell breaking loose. Immediately, I tensed up, ready to strike anything that moved. One of the doctors looked at me and then turned to the others, again speaking in the language that I couldn't understand for the life of me. Not that I really cared what they were saying; I just wanted out and they were _not_ going to be in my way in about, oh, five seconds. I may not look it, but I am a speedy little fuck. No doctors were going to stay between me and my freedom. Oh, no.

One of the doctors had the guts to actually approach me. I glared at him and readied my fists for action. The doctor looked at me and then turned to his colleagues, as if for back-up.

_Oh, no, you don't,_ I thought. _Just because there's three of you and only one of me doesn't mean I'm going to give in. I'll take you all on._

The first doctor said something to me, choosing this time to attempt the language I could somewhat understand.

"Let us help you," he told me, though his 'l' sounded more like an 'r' than anything else. "We will get you better."

"I don't need any help!" I snapped at him. "I can take care of my own injuries!"

"You are very drugged," the doctor continued. "You must get in bed."

"Fuck, no."

"Please, Reno-san. Your injuries are severe. You need rest."

"They can heal without your help," I bit out, feeling the pain in my side coming back. It seemed the drugs I had been given were starting to wear off.

It made me very uncomfortable that this doctor knew my name, but he had probably found my ID and checked it over. Thankfully, my ID didn't state that I was a Turk; that would probably get my ass killed immediately. Instead, it stated that I was an official within Shin-Ra's Executive Department Investigation Section, which kept me and the rest of the Turks safe. Outside of Shin-Ra Headquarters, the Turks were nothing but rumours, albeit frightening ones.

"Reno-san, we must ask that you return to your bed," the doctor insisted. "We do not wish to call security."

"Go ahead and call them," I told him. "I'm not staying here."

The man gave a sigh, and then turned to one of the others, barking an order in their language. The other doctor went out of the room and yelled something down the hall. On instinct, I headed towards the window, ready to jump through if I needed to in order to get out of there. However, the two doctors still in the room grabbed me, which was their big mistake. I may not look it, but I'm one hell of a fighter.

I grabbed one of the doctors by his arm and flipped him over me and onto his back. The second doctor grabbed both of my arms to attempt to restrain me, but growing up on the streets had taught me how to escape. I slid out of his grip and threw a round-house kick into his stomach. He doubled over as I gripped at my side. The force of the kick on my body had ripped open one of my wounds, I found out when I felt warm blood on my hands.

The sound of footfalls alerted me to the arrival of their security personnel. I took up the offense and was ready to fight my way out when the doctor that I had previously knocked down kicked my legs out from under me. I fell to the floor and one of the security guards held me down. I thrashed, despite the pain that suddenly shot through my body as the last of the drugs wore off. I grimaced and strained to get loose, feeling a couple more wounds tear open.

Someone shouted something and I felt a syringe being poked into my arm. I let out an angry cry and broke away, but I was still stuck underneath the guard. He held me down for a while until I began to feel woozy. The damn bastards had drugged me again. I _knew_ I hated doctors for a reason. They always drugged you, no matter how small an injury.

_Son of a bitch…_I thought._ When I wake up...I'll…_

_

* * *

_Hours passed as I slept. Again, I have no clue how long I was out. All I know was that I was going to kick some ass as soon as I was awake. Well, maybe I'd heal up a bit, first. The only reason the doctors won that round was because I was injured, outnumbered, and they cheated with the syringe, anyways, damn it. I mean, who _drugs_ an opponent? I'd kick their asses when they least expected it. Allow myself a couple of days to recuperate and then pull out a can of Mako-boosted kick-ass on them. Oh, boy, they won't know what hit them when I get done with them.

I just need to wake up, first.

Well, okay, I'm awake, but I can't open my eyes or move. I can feel what's going on around me and I can hear everything. Unfortunately, I can also smell everything and even worse, 'everything' means impeccable cleanliness, medicine, and I can smell dried blood. I lay in my bed, unable to move, my nose being constantly assaulted by the stomach-churning smells of a hospital. I hated it.

A sound to my left alerted me to the presence of another person in the room. The soft rustling of sheets and the creak of a metal bed filled my ears as the other occupant of the room shifted. I tried again to open my eyes, this time succeeding, although I shut them almost immediately. The room was too white; it almost blinded me.

"Are…you okay?" a voice asked me.

I tried to say 'no, I'm not okay,' but only a mumbled reply escaped my lips.

Whoever had asked the question had obviously expected something like that. A light laugh, full of sympathy, but also rather hollow, reached my ears. I eased my eyes open, slowly adjusting to the brightness. Once I could keep them open, I tried moving. I managed to turn my head towards the direction where the voice had come from.

There was a young man seated on a stool next to a bed, where another man was resting, a bandage covering his right eyes. The young man looked at me with large violet eyes. I blinked, vaguely aware of the fact that I had seen those eyes before. It took me a couple moments to realise that this kid--he was probably in his teens--was the one who had helped me on the street, I don't know how long ago, now. It might have been yesterday or last week by now that he helped me.

"The morphine should wear off soon," the kid said. At least, that's what it sounded like. I could only recognize a few words. It might be the accent in his voice or the drugs, but he was kind of hard to understand.

"Mmph," I grunted in reply. I couldn't think of what to say to him. I wasn't going to curse the kid out, like I was planning to do to the doctors.

"I'm sorry if I'm hard to understand," he continued. "I've been studying English for a few years now, but I know I have an accent. And I might not be good at speaking it."

"S'okay," I muttered, surprised that I could actually form words. Well, not individual words, but at least I could talk. I carefully lifted myself so that I was somewhat sitting up. "I get what you're saying."

The kid nodded. I noticed that there were multiple bandages wrapped around his arms. He was holding onto the other man's hand as he sat by the bed. I looked him up and down. He was rather short, pale, and thin. The only way I can think to describe him in one word is 'effeminate.' I mean, he was really lightly built and he was _pretty_. I can't say that about anyone else I know; Tseng was a gorgeous man, but he wasn't effeminate like this kid is. I mean, ancients, you put this kid in a dress and you'd swear he_ was_ a girl.

His eyes were the most unusual color I'd ever seen in my life, and I've seen some weird colors. That Lockhart girl from the Seventh Heaven bar had red eyes and the General Sephiroth had this aqua color to his eyes. The Cetra girl had eyes the color of the Lifestream. But this kid, like I said, had violet eyes; pale violet. I knew no one with eyes that color. Even after receiving Mako enhancements, none of the SOLDIERS had eyes like that.

Speaking of Mako enhancements, it kind of looked like this kid might have had a couple in his life. His eyes had a slight gleam to them, similar to the trademark Mako-glow that all SOLDIERS had. Then again, my eyes glow with Mako, too, but that's from living for years in the sewers near the Mako reactor in Midgar. So, perhaps he had just been exposed to a lot of Mako like I had been.

"What's your name?" I asked, deciding that I didn't want to have to call him 'kid' in order to get his attention.

He looked at me. "It's Kamui."

"Kamui," I repeated, letting the name roll around on my tongue as I said it. It was an interesting name.

"What about you?" Kamui asked. "What's your name?"

"Reno."

"Where are you from Reno-san?" he asked another question, turning in his stool to look at me.

"Nowhere around here, that's for damn sure," I said. Which was true. I've never seen anything like this city I was in. At least, from what I saw of it, I'd never seen anything like it. It was too clean to be Midgar, too modern to be Mime, and too cold to be Costa del Sol.

"The doctors thought you might be from America," Kamui told me.

"Never heard of it," I replied.

His jaw dropped. Literally, I could see it almost hit the floor. His violet eyes bugged out of his sockets as he stared at me, obviously in complete shock. I raised an eyebrow at him and he shook his head.

"How can you not hear of America?" he asked. "It's only one of the more powerful countries in the world!"

I shrugged. "Unless 'America' is your name for 'Midgar,' I've got no clue what you're talking about, kid."

"Midgar?"

The boy stumbled over the pronunciation, obviously having never heard of it in his life. I gave a sigh and lay back down. I felt one of the needles in my arm move around and gave a disgusted growl. I've always hated needles. So, I reached over and pulled it out. It didn't look like an important one. The other needle looked like it might be putting blood in me. Or taking it out.

"You really shouldn't do that," Kamui said.

"I don't need these people pumping me full of crap," I told him, taking a corner of the bed sheet to staunch the little bit of blood coming from the puncture in my arm.

"They're nutrients," he continued to protest. "To help you get better."

"I _am_ better."

"The doctors…"

"Fuck what the doctors say, I'm getting out of here," I interrupted him. I pulled the other needle from my arm, untangled myself from the blankets covering me and crawled out of bed.

"Reno-san!"

I ignored him, and my still aching ribs. I'm typically a pretty fast healer, mostly due to the overabundance of Mako in my system. However, I've never been this badly injured before, so healing slowly like this was a new one on me. I looked around the room in search of anything that belonged to me and found absolutely nothing. My clothes, my identification card, even my damned EMR. All of it was gone.

"Where the hell did they take my stuff?" I grumbled, walking towards the door, slowly.

I could hear the kid behind me stand up and come after me. He grabbed my arms and I hissed in pain, turned towards him sharply, and took his wrists in my hand. He let out a surprised yelp.

"Don't try to stop me, kid," I told him. "I may be hurt, but I'm not staying here."

"Kamui!" two voices from behind me exclaimed.

"Hey! Let go of him!" a young man told me, grabbing me by the shoulders.

Fine. I let go of Kamui, grabbed the newcomer and threw him over my shoulder and onto the floor. A jolt of pain shot through my body afterwards, the strain of self-defense affecting me. The newcomer got back up and tried to grab me again. Spinning around, I threw a roundhouse kick at him, landing my bare foot squarely in his chest. He flew backwards into the wall.

"Stop this."

I turned to face the second newcomer, a very lovely young woman. She turned steely gray eyes on me. My green eyes met hers for a brief moment, then I huffed and turned back to Kamui and the other guy.

"I'm leaving now," I told them. "If any of you try to stop me, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"But Reno-san…!"

"Don't make me follow through, kid."

I turned back towards the door, shoved past the young woman, earning myself a cold glare from her and an indignant yelp from the young man that had accompanied her to the room. I had just managed to get to the door when I fell to my knees. All the strain I had put on my body to fight was too much for my injuries. I had exhausted myself.

Kamui exclaimed something in his own tongue and rushed to my side. "Reno-san, let the doctors…"

"Don't need…a…damn doctor," I gritted out.

"Yes, you do," Kamui told me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I shoved his hand away and attempted to stand up, managing only for a moment before falling back down. I wouldn't give up, though. Even if my body was too wracked with pain and every step hurt, I wouldn't give up on leaving this place. As I said before, I am damned stubborn.

"Reno-san!" Kamui exclaimed as I wavered. He grabbed me before I fell completely to the floor, too exhausted to move and in too much pain.

So, I guess leaving at that moment wasn't really an option. Seeing as I was barely conscious, I probably wouldn't get too far. I put my head on Kamui's shoulder and closed my eyes. He was warm. I was cold.

"No more sedatives…" I managed to say.

* * *

I found out when I woke up again that Kamui and the two other people had left shortly after the doctors had come into the room and tended to me. Apparently, the other guy in the room had been woken up by the small scrapple and hadn't been too happy about it. He informed me of what happened after I had tried to escape. Despite Kamui telling them what I had said, the doctors had sedated me, re-stitched a few wounds that I had once again ripped open, and did a few tests and x-rays. Apparently, I had been healing quite fast, even with this caliber of injury, as the doctors had been pretty awed when they found my ribs were almost healed.

"Heh," I chuckled. "Fast healer."

"No one heals that fast," the other guy, Subaru, said. "Not without help."

"You've obviously never met a kid from Midgar, have you?"

"I'll be honest," Subaru told me. "I've never heard of it."

"Thought so," I murmured. I yawned and looked up at the ceiling.

"You're not going to try to escape again, are you?"

"Nah," I said. "If they're going to manage to stop me every time, what's the point, yo? Besides, s'not like I got anywhere to go once I'm out of here. My apartment's in Midgar and I have no clue where I am."

"Mm."

I looked over at him. "So, what were the doctors lookin' all wide eyed and spooked about earlier?"

"You mean aside from the fact that you've barely been here three days and your broken ribs are almost healed?" Subaru asked.

"Yeah. It's not like I can understand them. You know the language, not me."

"They said something about your blood test results," Subaru told me. "I guess when they gave you a transfusion, the only thing they looked at was your blood type and not the contents."

"What's wrong with my blood?" I asked, defensively, turning to glare at him.

Subaru looked at me, his one eye locked on mine. "Some strange component or something. I couldn't understand what they were saying. It was all medical terminology."

"Damn those doctors and their damned 'medical terminology'," I joked. "Probably just the Mako."

"The what?"

"You don't know what Mako is?" I asked.

He shook his head.

"Mako," I repeated. "Ultimate energy source. Hardened Lifestream, compresses into materia?"

He blinked at me. At least, I figured he blinked; it wasn't like I could see both of his eyes. I gave an exasperated sigh.

"Never mind."

"You've piqued my curiosity," Subaru said.

"It's not important," I replied.

He looked at me. An odd silence filled the room for a few minutes as the two of us laid in our beds, him looking at me, me looking at the ceiling, and the ceiling looking back at me, I swear. What kind of drugs did they have me on? I didn't think ceilings were supposed to be able to look at people. I glared at the ceiling and stuck my tongue out at it. It blinked at me. Whatever drugs I was on, they were _good_.

"Reno-san," Subaru said, breaking the silence.

"What?"

"You said you don't have anywhere to go, correct?"

"Yeah," I confirmed. "What about it?"

"I…" he said. "I'm being discharged in a couple of days and I was thinking…I have some connections at CLAMP Academy and perhaps I can pull a few strings to get you a place to stay there."

I turned to him. "Sounds good, but what's the catch?"

"I suspect you'd have to attend school there…"

"School?" I asked.

"Yes."

"I can't read or write your language," I told him. "I barely know mine."

"I'm sure the chairman can figure something out for you," Subaru said. "At least think about it?"

"Sure, whatever," I said. I looked back at the ceiling. The bastard was flipping me off! "Oh, you sonuva!"

"What?!" Subaru exclaimed.

"Not you, the ceiling!"

_**Author's Note:** Yeah, okay. I've set the stage for how I'm going to get things started. No clue how long this thing will be, nor how long I can actually write it. But the very thought of Reno attending CLAMP Academy, now that's interesting._


	3. Chapter II

_**Author's Note:**__ And finally, the new chapter! After, I dunno, a couple of years. *is a very bad author* I apologize to everyone who's been waiting for this to continue. I don't know how many of the original readers are still around, if any, so again, apologies if you've been waiting.  
**Warnings: **__Uhm, can't really think of anything to warn you about. . . yet.  
**Disclaimer:**__ I don't own them and the alliance between CLAMP and Square-Enix against me is becoming stronger._

**Chapter Two:** Settling In

Subaru was released from the hospital a full day before I was. I waved him goodbye as he was accompanied out of the room by Kamui and a couple of cute nurses. As soon as he was gone, I was assaulted with questions from the doctors assigned to me. They all wanted to discuss the unknown substance in my body. For those of you just now paying attention, that "unknown substance" in my body is a little something called Mako. I don't remember whether or not I've said so before, but if I have, I probably don't remember because of all the drugs they've been putting in me the last week or so. I was raised in Midgar, the most polluted city on the entirety of Gaia. Polluted as in the air is _saturated _with Mako from the reactor in the city.

I can see the raised eyebrows in the crowd. Let me explain. Mako is a condensed form of the Lifestream, which is the governing flow that controls life on Gaia. Some have called it the planet's life force. Hey, it's green, glowy, and can power anything for years when condensed. The Shin-Ra Electric Company has been harvesting Mako for a while now, using it to power the cities of Gaia. Mako can also enhance natural skills in a human being with enough exposure. SOLDIERs have been infused with small doses of Mako to boost their endurance and skills. And me, I lived in the sewers practically underneath the Mako reactor for years with other street kids. The exposure poisoned my bloodstream over the years and now I've got some of my own enhancements.

Anyways, so the doctors asked their questions and I gave them the vaguest answers I could muster. I mean, hey, it wasn't like I wanted to tell them that I had no clue how to explain it to them without getting more questions from them. The only reason I answered their stupid questions was so I could get out of there. I knew the only reason they were keeping me at this point was to satisfy their own curiosity. My ribs were still a bit sore, but otherwise healed. The stitched up gashes no longer needed the stitches and were well on their way to healing. The bruises and other lacerations were gone as well. I didn't have a reason to stay here anymore, which made me relieved. Remember, I hate hospitals.

"Reno-san," one of the doctors said. "We'd like to take a sample of blood."

"What for?" I asked. "I think you've got plenty of it already."

"Just another pint is all we ask."

"Screw you," I told him. "I want my clothes, identification and EMR back, stat. I'm not staying here one more day."

"Reno-san," another doctor piped up. "We still believe there's something we've overlooked. The substance in your blood could be a sign of disease and we need to test it."

"The stuff in my blood's been there for years. It's nothing major, just some naturally enhancing agent that I've been exposed to since I was a kid. Now, get me out of here."

It took a while longer before the doctors finally left to get the paperwork to release me. Apparently, Subaru had taken the initiative to speak with whoever was really in charge because, when I was released an hour after the doctors gave up, the guy was there, along with the violet-eyed kid, Kamui. A nurse, a rather cute one, too, was escorting me, pushing me along in a wheelchair to where Subaru and Kamui were waiting. I paused, thinking back to a few minutes ago, when my belongings were returned to me.

"Hey," I said, addressing the nurse. "Where's my EMR? And my gun?"

The nurse looked at me and a nervous air surrounded her. She spoke in her native tongue and I figured she didn't speak mine. I waved her off, annoyed that I hadn't received an answer and even more annoyed that I didn't have my weapons. Subaru came over, having heard my question, and spoke for the nurse.

"You have to fill out a release paper for the weapons," he told me. "Though, it's unlikely the gun will be returned. They are illegal in Japan."

"What kind of idiot bans guns?" I asked, astonished. "What do you fight off bandits and things with? And I have a license for that; it's on my identification card!"

"You'll have to speak to the police about it," Subaru said.

I huffed in the wheelchair, crossing my arms in a childlike manner. Kamui apparently noticed the tension and decided to change the subject.

"How are you doing, Reno-san?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Be better if I had my gun."

I'll admit I'm uncomfortable without my weapons. Okay, if it's just the gun I have, I'm uncomfortable. So long as I have my EMR, I'm good. Hey, I'm better with close-range weapons than with clumsy guns. I'll just get a new one when I get back to Midgar. I need a new one anyways; my standard .45 isn't so standard anymore.

I got out of the wheelchair, flicked a salute and a wink the nurse's way, and then followed Subaru and Kamui over to a counter in the lobby of the hospital. Subaru began speaking to the attendant sitting behind the counter. The two of them were using their language, so I didn't bother trying to follow along. After a while, the attendant handed me a sheet of paper and a pen. Then he stood and left.

"Sign your name there," Subaru told me, pointing to a dotted line at the bottom. "It's a release paper for your weapon."

Nodding, I wrote my name down in my rather clumsy handwriting. For verification, I pulled my identification out of my pocket. I looked at the name on my ID; it was a false name, of course. I've long forgotten my real name. A young child living on the streets has more important things to worry about. When I joined the Turks, I simply put my name down as Reno. Actually, now that I think about it, I don't think Reno is my real name. It's just the name everyone called me as I was growing up.

"Reno-san," Subaru said, pulling my mind off my thoughts.

I looked up. The attendant had returned with a cardboard box in hand. He took the paper I had signed, looked it over and questioned almost right away. Subaru took my identification card and handed it to the attendant. The two of them spoke for a few minutes before the attendant finally handed back my ID card and the box. I took the box, taking the lid off for a peek and giving a relieved grin when I saw my EMR sitting inside.

Subaru spoke to the attendant once again before leading Kamui and I out of the hospital. There was a car waiting outside and Subaru opened one of the doors, gesturing for Kamui and I to get in. Once all three of us were in, Subaru spoke to the driver. A couple minutes later and we were moving along.

"It's a bit of a long drive to the academy," Subaru said. "Especially with traffic."

I nodded, looking out the window at the tall, clean buildings of the city. I hadn't really gotten to look around since I got here, so I decided to take the opportunity to do so now.

"Nokoru-sama has arranged to house you in the apartment next to ours," Kamui said. He was stumbling over some of the words he spoke, obviously still learning the language. "If you want, you can came over for dinner."

"Come," Subaru corrected.

Kamui gave Subaru a small smile in thanks. I noticed several things in that smile. First off, Kamui obviously liked Subaru. I couldn't tell for sure how much, but it was obviously a lot. Secondly, the complete look of admiration was hiding a sort of inner torment. Something both Kamui and Subaru had a lot of. Maybe that was why the kid liked him so much; he and Subaru shared an inner torment that connected them in some way.

"Dinner sounds good," I replied after a moment. Back home, I had usually just picked something up someplace near the apartment I stayed in when I wasn't on duty. I had never had the time to learn to cook, so if I were to be left to my own devices, I'd be screwed.

"I'll tell Arashi-san that we'll have two extra guests for dinner while you get settled in, then," Kamui said.

"Thanks," I told him before turning to look back out the window.

The rest of the ride was relatively quiet. Neither Kamui nor Subaru were much for talking, it seemed. That didn't really bother me; I'm used to quiet companions. Rude and Tseng weren't much for talking, other than the occasional "shut up, Reno" and, for some reason, they were always telling me to stop harrassing the new guys. Oh, how I loved to tease the newer Turks and any of the other Turks that weren't high in rank like Tseng, Rude, and me. Elena was the most fun to harass.

Speaking of Elena, how much do you want to bet she has my job now? I mean, think about it: I've been gone for some time now. The others probably think I'm dead, so they have to fill in my position sometime. Elena was the highest ranking of the lower Turks, so she's probably the top candidate for my job. Boy, she'll be happy; the girl's been after my job for years, so she'll finally outrank her sister. It's some stupid sibling rivalry thing that I missed out on, having no siblings myself. The closest thing I had to family growing up was the gang.

I kinda miss those days, you know? Back when I was just a scrawny kid growing up in the slums, fighting for food and gil, sleeping amongst my few friends with only each other for warmth in the sewers where we hid from the adults. Yeah, we lived in the sewers; it was the only safe place for us. The adults were too big to fit through the entrances, but we were small enough to slip through. It was dark, cold, damp, and polluted, but it was safe. The only problems in the sewers were the rats and they didn't weren't that much of a problem.

Okay, yeah, there are a few things about my life before becoming a Turk that I'd never want to go back to. I don't really want to live off scraps of food people threw away and I'd rather not have to steal food, pickpocket for gil, or starve for days on end between meals. I lived the life of luxury as a Turk, yes, but I missed the freedom I had on the streets and I left everyone else in the gang to continue to waste away. I mean, these were kids I had grown up with, who had cared for me as a brother, and were always there for me, especially after _that_ happened.

Don't ask. I'd rather not have to go there. It's a memory that I would give anything to be rid of, but it's always there, in the back of my mind. Rude knew about it, being the one who had done my background check, but he never questioned me about it and thankfully, he never mentioned it to either Tseng or the boss. Now there's a friend.

Anyways, where was I?

Oh, yeah: in the car, with Subaru and Kamui, them being quiet and me looking out the window and reminiscing about my less-than-perfect childhood. There's not much to say, actually. We continued to drive through the city for some time until we finally came to a stop in front of a building that looked like an apartment complex. Subaru opened his door and got out, paying the driver with some strange looking scraps of paper that I could only guess was the currency here.

"Your apartment is 32B," Subaru told me after all three of us were out of the car and it had driven off. "Kamui and the others are next door in 32A."

"I'll be right back," Kamui said, heading into the apartment he lived in. "I should let the others know we'll be having guests."

Subaru nodded to him and Kamui went inside. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, handing them to me.

"The silver one is the one to the apartment," he explained. "The gold one goes to the student lobby. You can relax there if you don't want to stay in the apartment. You might enjoy some of the company."

I nodded, a little unenthusiastically. Right now, all I wanted was to take a nap. I was tired and bed sounded like a good idea. At least here, I wouldn't have to deal with doctors poking and prodding me, bugging me with some stupid question as to the "strange content" in my blood. I unlocked the door, turning the knob and opening it. I stepped inside and looked around a bit.

"I went ahead and arranged a meeting with Nokoru-sama for you," Subaru said, slipping off his shoes. He gestured for me to do the same. I cocked an eyebrow in confusion and he explained that it was something that was done in this country. Then he continued. "It would probably be in your best interest to seek employment with him for your stay here."

"I don't intend to stay very long," I told him. "As soon as I can find a way back to Midgar, I gotta return to my job before Elena gets too high and mighty."

"In the meantime, you'll need a job to get on here," Subaru said.

"Fine, fine," I replied. I headed through the apartment, going upstairs and finding a bedroom. "No offense, Subaru, but I'm dead-tired and I want to sleep."

"None taken," Subaru bowed slightly. "I'll come over when dinner is ready."

"Right."

He left and I went over to the bed, flopping onto it and giving a sigh of relief when I found the bed was not hard like the hospital beds, but soft and very comfortable. It was almost too comfortable, but, hey, I'm not one to complain. I closed my eyes, face planted in the pillow, and body twisted into a comfortable position. I'm pretty sure that it didn't take me very long to fall asleep; I've always been quick to fall asleep and quick to wake up, something that came in handy at times.

* * *

Dinner was pretty interesting, to be honest. While Subaru translated for me quite a bit, there were a number of his companions who spoke English, which was apparently the name for the language we had in common. The kid I beat down at the hospital the other day, Sorata, kept asking me inane questions (that Subaru translated with an annoyed look on his face), trying his best to act macho in front of the young woman who had accompanied him that day, who I learned was named Arashi. She didn't seem to be much impressed with Sorata and I don't exactly blame her. He was too loud and too determined; kinda like me but ten or twenty, maybe fifty times worse. It scared even me, almost.

Aside from Subaru, Kamui, Sorata, and Arashi, there were three others seated with us at dinner. Subaru introduced me to Karen and Seiichirou. I immediately liked Karen. She was like me in a way. I remembered being picked on as a kid because of my red hair and, no matter who I hung out with, I was always easy to pick out in a group before of my hair. Karen was the same. Where Kamui and the others had common black or brown hair, she was a red-head.

She also had one hell of a body, but let's not get too far.

A perky young girl introduced herself as Yuzuriha, then immediately pointed to a spot on the floor and asked me if I saw her dog. I blinked at the spot she had pointed at and almost asked her what the hell she was talking about, but on second glance, I nearly jumped back, seeing the faintest outline of a rather large dog. I almost took it as a sign that the drugs the doctors had me on weren't quite out of my system and gave the girl a confused shrug for a reply. She pouted for a moment before smiling brightly.

"So, Reno-san!" she said. "How old are you?"

I blinked and answered slowly. "Twenty-six."

"Where are you from?"

"Far away."

"America?" Yuzuriha pressed.

I shook my head. "Midgar. But it seems no one in this place has ever heard of it."

The girl blinked. "I haven't."

Seiichirou spoke up. "I have, but I doubt it's in the context you're talking about, Reno-san."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, German legend talks of a realm called Midgard that is guarded by a great serpent. Supposedly, it's the afterlife."

"I'll tell you what," I said, waving my hand in the air to dismiss the idea. "Midgar may be in the deepest circles of hell, but it ain't the afterlife."

Karen leaned forward, giving me a smile with those soft, sultry lips of hers. "So, Reno-san, what do you do for a living?"

Now, since these people had never heard of Midgar or Mako, or apparently, _anything_ from where I'm from, it's pretty safe to bet that they probably have no idea what a Turk is or what we do. Still, even if they don't know, I'm not sure that it's safe to tell them. I mean, this whole thing could all be an elaborate scheme to get me to let out Turk secrets and then kill me. Okay, maybe even that is a bit far-fetched, but you know what? I don't care. I still have to be careful of who I trust and, while I like Subaru and Kamui enough, I wouldn't trust either one of them.

I gave a shrug. "I worked in security."

Hey, it's close enough to the truth. Part of my job was to make sure President Shinra and his son were well-guarded from those AVALANCHE guys. That involved a lot of security work. The Turks were all trained as bodyguards, too, so we could guard the Shinras while they were outside Midgar. At least two of us would be around at all times.

Granted that's only part of the job, but if I tell you anything more, I'd have to kill you.

"Security?" Karen repeated. "That's an interesting line of work, Reno-san."

"Babe, you have no idea," I joked.

That got a laugh of out her, though it sounded a little nervous. Dinner was significantly quieter after that. Everyone was done asking questions and I was done answering them. We finished eating, lounged around for a bit before Karen announced that she had to head off for home. Seiichirou immediately stood up and offered to walk her home. Watching the two of them, I got the impression that there was something going on between those two, but I didn't say anything. After all, I hardly knew them.

A short time after Karen and Seiichirou left, Subaru headed off, much to Kamui's obvious disappointment. The kid's eyes softened and I only just caught a hint of the heartbreak that was in them. Subaru promised to see him again soon, then pulled his jacket on and headed for the door. I gave my own farewell, giving the girls a quick wave before leaving.

Subaru stood just outside the apartment, lighting up a cigarette. He had a sort of far away look in his good eye and I had to wonder what he was thinking. I stepped up next to him and asked if he had another cigarette to spare. Wordlessly, he handed me both a cigarette and a lighter. I lit up, took a drag and raised my face to look at the night sky as I exhaled smoke. Stars had come out and filled the sky and it was then that I realized just how far away from home I really was.

Back home, the gang and I were look at the stars a lot. Our leader, a kid we called Drifter, really liked the stars. He was the one who taught me about the Red Star. It was big and, as you can guess, red. No matter where I was, I could always find it. Drifter showed me how. Even after I joined the Turks, I would always look for it at night and remember Drifter and the gang.

As I looked at the sky now, there were no red stars. None of the constellations were familiar. I didn't see the Tonberry or the Gold Chocobo, as Drifter called them. Nothing was familiar up there in a sky so like the one I looked at as a kid.

I thanked Subaru for the smoke and headed for my little apartment next door. I dropped the cigarette to the ground and crushed the remainder of it under my shoe, then opened the door to my apartment. Kicking off my shoes and throwing my jacket aside, I headed for bed. I didn't bother with turning a light on to get ready for bed. I just stripped down to my boxers and flopped onto the mattress. I needed my sleep.

Tomorrow, I'd talk to this Nokoru guy about a job.

_**Author's Note:**__ Probably wasn't exactly worth a two-year wait, but at least I got back to this?_


End file.
